


Broken Plans

by Ciaran_VAL



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 16:11:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13193718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ciaran_VAL/pseuds/Ciaran_VAL
Summary: April 22nd, 2013. Rachel goes to the Vortex Club.





	Broken Plans

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nat/gifts).



> This piece was very short, but...I think it has to be that way.

"Rachel, wait."

I look over at Chloe with a playful smile, pausing in the middle of getting out of the truck. "What's up, babe?"

She grabs me and pulls me back into the cab, her lips meeting mine again. Chloe's kisses are so - surprisingly tender, but so _passionate_. I return the kiss as I feel the warmth racing up and down my veins, suffusing skin and blood and muscle and warming me up from the inside like every time I touch her. Finally - after I don't know how long - she pulls back and both of us are left sitting dizzily in the truck, holding hands quietly.

"Have fun at the party. I'll be back around 10?"

"Sure. Sorry I couldn't get you in."

"Not your fault. Victoria's always been a bitch, anyway. I don't know why you're even going, honestly."

"Dana and the others aren't so bad, and I've been neglecting them for a while." I laugh. "The Vortex Club is fucking stupid, but I've been putting off Dana and Juliet for ages. Don't worry. We'll do something fun this weekend, okay? I love you, Chloe."

"I love you, Rachel."

I slide out of the old truck that's been our trusty iron horse for almost three years now as I bound up the stairs to Blackhell. The old academy where I'm the soon-to-be valedictorian of the graduating class, where I've been stuck with Chloe for three years. _Not for much longer. We're off to Los Angeles soon, and everything will change. Mark's already got modeling gigs lined up for me...I still feel so dirty about sleeping with him for it, but it'll be worth it if I can bring Chloe our dreams..._

My phone buzzes. I check it to see a text from Nathan asking me where I am, and I shake my head, smiling. I'd always been nice to Nathan, and he'd had a crush on me forever, but he'd always been...well, he'd never really been pushy about it, anyway. I send him a quick response text and I head over to the pool where the Vortex Club parties were always held.

It's already crazy in here as I step in. Teenagers everywhere dancing, laughing, swimming. _I have no idea how Wells allows all this, to be totally honest._ But I'm already finding myself pulled around by different people, everyone wanting a piece of Rachel Amber, and I'm laughing and shooing them away as I make my way over to the "VIP" section. _Victoria and crew are so fucking pretentious._ I shake my head as I slip through the curtain, ignoring Courtney.

The whole Vortex Club has always kind of pissed me off - it's just an excuse for Victoria and Taylor and Courtney and some of the others to feel superior and lord it over other people - but some of my best friends are in it. Dana, Juliet, and the others...so I still end up dragged into the parties sometimes. Like tonight.

_Well, at least the drinks are always hella good, and most of the members aren't so bad, even if they can't see through Victoria's pretentious bullshit._ There's a cheer as soon as I step through the curtain, and then Nathan's beside me, putting a drink in my hand as Dana and the others crowd around me and drag me out to dance and party and talk and celebrate. I lose track of time as the party goes on, getting dizzy and drunk off of wine and breathless from the dancing, until finally I find myself outside under the stars, Nathan holding my arm and saying - something - I can't tell what. I'm having trouble walking, having trouble keeping my gaze focused, having trouble thinking.

I'm not sure how I got into it, but now I'm in a car, and we're driving along the road, the stars spinning past so fast, and the trees standing still. I look up at the stars, the beautiful stars I've always loved, that Chloe and I have spent most of our nights staring up at and talking, dreaming, making love under, and then they all spin together and turn everything a beautiful white.

 

* * *

 

_Snap. Snap. Snap._

I open my eyes groggily to the sound of snapping. It sounds...almost like a camera. But I can't figure out where it's coming from. Or why someone is taking pictures. My eyes flicker, but it's too bright and pain lances through them into my brain. For some reason, my limbs aren't responding, and it takes so much effort to breathe. I shift slightly, trying to move, but my arms and legs feel like they're weighed down by bricks or something.

After a few minutes, and more of that snapping, I hear buzzing. _My phone..._ I try to get up again, rocking slightly, and hear someone swear under his breath. "Rachel, you need to hold still. Stop moving." _Who is that?_ The voice sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't place it. I try to get up again, and manage to succeed in moving a bit, even turning my head. I open my eyes again and see a dark figure standing over me, but he grabs me and painfully twists me back to how I was lying before.

The pain sends a jolt through my whole body and my eyes widen as my senses sharpen a bit. _Is that...Mark?_ I let out a soft groan as I try to rise again.

"Rachel, stay fucking put. I almost have it..." _Why is he taking pictures of me? What the fuck?_ I look down and realize suddenly that my hands and legs are duct taped together. _What is going on?_ I look up and see him standing over me, his camera raised as he snaps a close picture of my face, the flash blinding me. I manage to get words together. _My throat is so dry..._

"Let me go, what the hell?"

He frowns, looking at me, and then turns to look at someone behind him. "Nathan, you dumbass, you didn't give her enough."

"I didn't want to give her too much."

"Well now she's fucking awake. This is what we keep fucking talking about, Nathan. You can't - "

"Okay, I'm sorry!"

I hear my phone buzzing again. _Chloe..._ "I have to answer that," I say without thinking.  "It's Chloe." When no one responds, I force myself to try to get up, at least into a sitting position. "Mark."

"Just shut up, Rachel. I'm giving you your photoshoot like you wanted." There's something in his tone...and I'm starting to be able to think more clearly. _What the fuck is going on? Why am I tied up? Why can't I fucking - how did I get here?"

"Hey! Let me go!" I'm starting to get pissed as I manage to lever myself upright into a sitting position. I see Nathan standing in the corner too, staring at me. "Nathan! Come here and untie me, _right now!_ "

I hear another snap as Mark Jefferson takes another photo. He shakes his head. "Maybe this is going to work out. The anger, the emotion..." He looks at me. "You know, Rachel, you really are a transcendental subject."

"Fuck you, let me go!" I try to work my hands free of the duct tape, but I can't break it, no matter how hard I try.

He shakes his head. "But so vulgar. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering how quickly you dropped your panties for me." He looks over at Nathan. "She needs another dose. Hurry up."

"Stay the fuck away from me," I shout as Nathan comes closer with a syringe. It's still so hard to breathe, even as angry as I am. I try to wriggle away from them, but it's no use. Jefferson puts his camera down.

"You know what to do. I'm heading back to campus. Make sure she doesn't remember anything."

"Okay, Mr. Jefferson." Jefferson leaves, and then it's just me and Nathan.

"Nathan, don't - "

"I'm sorry, Rachel. It's okay, you won't remember anything, anyway. I'm going to give you a little extra, though, just to make sure."

"Don't - "

"It's okay, Rachel. I won't let anything bad happen to you." He exposes my neck, tilting my head gently. Somehow, that makes it worse. Then there's a quick pain in my neck and I can feel cold fire flooding through my veins.

Dimly, I can hear my phone buzzing again. It makes me think of Chloe, beautiful blue-haired Chloe. I need to answer it, let her know that I'm okay...but I can't move anymore, my arms and legs feeling like they're made of stone. My head drops as my eyelids droop. I can see Nathan rising and heading back out of the room. I should be trying to escape now, but I can't...I can't move. I can barely breathe. But the phone keeps buzzing, reminding me that I need to - I need to keep breathing. For Chloe. I force myself to take another breath, I force myself to take another, I force myself to keep my eyelids open. _I can...I can do this..._

 

* * *

 

I open my eyes again. Dimly, I can see a blue-haired woman standing over me. She seems so sad as she tenderly puts one hand on my cheek, her hand so warm and soft. Chloe leans down and kisses me gently, and I can feel the warmth spreading through my body, across my flesh, warming me from the inside, like every other time, like the first time, beneath the ash and the stars and the streetlights. I part my lips gently. "Chloe..."

"Rachel," she whispers softly. I want to tell her how much I love her, I want to tell her how much she means to me. I want to tell her I'm sorry, for Jefferson, for Frank, to explain it all. All the things I was trying to do, to bring her and me together to Los Angeles, to make all our dreams come true, so we could finally fly beyond Arcadia Bay, the corners of this world our mere prologue. But I can't say anything. I'm breathless, struck dumb by my angel, here to save me from Nathan and Jefferson, like she did from Damon Merrick, like she's always been here for me, like she always will be. Somehow, I think that Chloe knows all of it already. She looks so sad, so lost. I hear buzzing somewhere in the background, but it doesn't seem important anymore. Nothing does, except for Chloe.

She sits there next to me, holding my hand, looking at me with that sad expression that makes my heart ache to see it, the one she got whenever she talked about her dad. I pull her close, to kiss away the tears, to kiss away the rage, to kiss away the pain like I always did for her. My lips land on hers one more time, and then she's receding into the distance as everything turns white. _I'm so sorry, Chloe..._ I reach out to her, but...

"Hello, Rachel. " I hear the voice come from behind me. It's somehow...deeply familiar, but at the same time one I've never heard before. I turn around to see a blonde man with craggy features sitting there, a man who I've seen a million pictures of.

"Are you..."

He smiles at me, warmly. Like my father always used to smile at me, like the way that Chloe described it a million times. It's radiant, and understanding, and reassuring all at once. "I'm William, Chloe's dad. I would have been your father-in-law."

"But..."

"I know. It's confusing. Come on, I'll explain everything." He takes my arm gently, and I suddenly don't feel scared at all. I look at William, take a breath - they're finally coming easily now - and then we walk into the light.

 

* * *

 

_one by one their seats were emptied,_

_one by one, they went away_

_now the family, it is parted_

_will it be complete one day?_

 

_will the circle be unbroken?_

_by and by, by and by..._

_is a better home awaiting?_

_in the sky, oh, in the sky..._


End file.
